1. The abundant greenery! The green grass. Green trees and colourful flower gardens. Green spaces and public city parks for leisure walks. No more vast expanses of sandy dirt devoid of grass or even weeds!2. Excellent Thai and Indian food. Lots of choice in ethnic restaurants (especially in Toronto and Montreal). Currently in Toronto, we live only 2 minutes from “Little India”, 10 minutes from “Greek Town”, 10 minutes from one of the “China Towns” and only minutes away from other ethnic restaurants, grocery stores and clothing stores.
3. Many comfort and health foods that we can’t find in Niger. Peaches and nectarines, cranberries, grapes, raspberries and other berries (although Niamey did have a very short strawberry season), whole-wheat and multi-grain breads of all kinds, rhubarb, orange sweet potatoes, black beans (you just couldn’t find these yummy legumes in Niger).
4. Going to grocery store to shop in peace and not getting harassed or pestered by vendors in the market the minute I step out of the car! Fixed prices at stores. No guessing or bartering required. Although, I for one quite enjoyed bartering and really got into it when I was not in a hurry. You can get some pretty good deals that way!
5. You're not likely to fall ill to malaria. No more weekly anti-malarial medication and no more worries about terrible tropical illnesses.
6. The cooler and cleaner air (less black car exhaust and smoke from garbage fires). The beautiful colours of autumn. Appreciating the sunny fall days since the autumn sun in Canada isn’t as direct and hot as in Niger. Great weather for hiking in the day and sleeping at night. (Christine isn't looking forward to wearing heavy winter jackets and boots. She quite enjoyed wearing sandals all year round!)
Here we are in the Rocky Mountains near Canmore, Alberta.
7. Flush toilets and relatively clean public washrooms. No more using smelly public latrines, squatting over a tiny hole, hiding in the bushes or bringing my own toilet paper everywhere!
8. You're not likely to be kidnapped in Canada (in reference to the separate
kidnapping incidents earlier this year of 2 Canadian diplomats and some European tourists).9. Well-equipped sports facilities and indoor gyms where you can exercise without getting heatstroke. It’s nice to be able to jog and do exercise outdoors without overheating and sweating profusely! Do you like Tim's barbells he had made from old automotive parts?
10. High-speed internet.
11. More predictable drivers who generally follow the rules of the road. In Niger, it appeared that there were no rules, or if there were, very few people knew or respected the rules of the road. Although, we’re not looking forward to all the traffic congestion, especially in Toronto!
12. Clean streets. No garbage in the streets or burning at the side of the road -->13. Blending-in with others on the street and not standing out as the “rich white person” walking down the street.
14. Better medical facilities and health care.
15. Bike paths on many city roads and scenic trails. Biking is a lot safer in Canada and Europe.
16. Ahh. The melodious sound of water lapping on the side of the canoe as you paddle!
17. Clean plush train seats that you aren’t afraid of laying your head on. (France is to be congratulated for excellent service on the TGV going from Paris to Strasbourg.)
18. Clean and clear (not brown) flowing water in lakes and streams.
19. Seeing friends and family again after 2 years living in Niger. Although it will be hard at first to set down new roots (wherever we settle) and to invest in meeting new people.
First Impressions back in Canada
1. Wow! Black garden soil rich in organic material. Not the red, nutrient deficient sand we used in Niger for potting plants and growing veggies. (although cow manure was certainly cheap and easy to obtain in Niger!)
2. The ponds in Canada don’t dry up over the summer and they have grass and natural vegetation growing to the edge, instead of muddy animal tracks trampling the vegetation leading to the water.
The picture to the left was taken in November of a pond ("mar" in French) which is the sole source of water for the village. The picture on the right is the same pond in June before the rains arrived.
3. In Canada, there is a lot of food waste.
People don’t tend to pick up their chicken/meat bones with their hands or clean them off to the very bitter end. In Niger licking your fingers after a messy meal is quite acceptable. I was horrified one evening in a restaurant to see the amount of meat wasted on a T-bone steak by a man who ordered too large of a meal to complete. I guess he didn’t think of taking home a “doggie bag”.4. Mmmm good coffee.... Donut and coffee shops or convenience stores stocked with junk food at every street corner rather than fruit/veggie vendors or men pushing wheelbarrows of fresh produce down the road. Like any culture, Niger does sell a lot of western junk food (candies, cookies, chips) at roadside kiosks and quick Nigerien snacks are deep-fried bread dough and fried yams.
5. The countryside feels rather empty without herds of scrawny cows, goats and sheep wandering around. In Canada (and Europe) there are very few animals out grazing. Instead the fields are filled with large bales of hay or crops of grain and corn.
Note that all the farm animals pictured below are gifts/loans to local people and financed by Samaritan's Purse (by your donations). Photos taken by Tim.
Au revoir Niger!
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